Set Apart
I used to see being relocated or assigned tasks away from everyone else as a bad thing. My mind would start to try and figure out what I had done, who I had possibly offended and what I could do to be restored to the in-crowd.
In my need to understand why, I never even considered the possibility that I might be being set apart for a purpose or repositioned for my own protection. I wonder how many times over the years God tried to set me apart so that I could learn new things, be refined by new experiences, and walk through lonely places so that my relationship with Him could become deeper. But in my stubborn desire to prove that I was just as acceptable as everyone else, with my need for controlling my own environment, how many times did He watch me run back to relationships, people, jobs, and circumstances He was calling me away from.
This willful waywardness to be where everyone else was reminds me of the battle I had with my youngest daughter when she was around 18 months old. We had a large property with a fenced in backyard that included a tree house, another backyard area with a swing and Koi fish pond, a front yard with lots of room to run and play, and a long driveway that any kid would be happy to voyage up and down.
But not my Baby Sam. Nope, she wanted to stand in the middle of the street. If I let her out the door of the house (any door) she was heading straight for the middle of the road. It didn’t matter how many times I tried to distract her. Scolding, prodding, and persuading fell on deaf ears. Removing and relocating did no good. She had seen others cross the street or play in front of our house and she was determined that what was good for others was good for her as well.
And there was no use in trying to lock her up either, she would find a way out or enlist someone to see things her way. Even though I saw the big picture and was trying to protect her from possible harm, she was determined to be in the location she desired or else. Sound familiar to you? It does to me too. I’ve been that wayward daughter of the King determined to have my own way, but also demanding His protection and blessing all the while disobeying His leading and trodding in a place of danger.
Sad to say, I haven’t outgrown this tendency with age. In the beginning of a relocation its easy for me to trust (read my blog The Good Shepherd) but at the first sign of trouble (failure, criticism, exhaustion), grumbling and complaining so easily set in and before I know it I’m right back in the location God called me away from or among the people He called me out of. And if I’m not there, I might as well be because it’s what my heart craves, just like the children of Israel began to crave their captivity in Egypt over their desert place.
But what is my heart really craving? It’s craving the familiar, the understood because “the known” brings an emotional response that we crave even if it is a false comfort that leads to complacency, soul erosion, and spiritual death.
It’s why if we want to grow, if we want to keep from being stagnant and useless, we must allow God to separate and/or remove us as He sees fit. He is an intentionally loving Father and we can trust that where He leads us (no matter what it looks or feels like) is better for us in the long run. We can rest (be at ease) in the fact that this time of unsettling will produce in us everything that God purposely prepared in advance for us, as long as we yield wholeheartedly to Him. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10 NIV)
Now trust is easy when all of the evidence and proof highlight our beliefs. But when the evidence mounts an overwhelming emotional assault that stacks itself against the object of our trust, this is where we must put feet to our faith. We must, “Take heart!” like Jesus said. “I have told you these things , so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV)
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for, the evidence of what we cannot see,(Hebrews 11:6 NIV). So, we must choose to believe in what is unseen and walk as if it is seen, just like those that came before us ‘who did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.’ (Hebrews 11:13b NIV). We must tred with confidence knowing that if our God purposed it, if He said it, it has already come to pass. And until that day where the evidence is seen with our physical eyes we must choose to see it with our spiritual eyes, believe it with our whole hearts, and trust God in total surrendered abandon. Will you join me? He’s calling, can you hear Him?
